Steve Jobs is jumping at this moment while setting a remarkable moment in the history of Mobile Applications. In the deserved excitement, Steve Jobs had a message for all the App Store rivals trying to emulate the iPhone maker’s model: “Good luck catching us.”
This moment is worth celebration for the team back at Apple, who had made world’s biggest mobile platform, iPhone. App Store was released exactly a year back and within this span, 65,000+ Applications have been listed in the App Store varying from How to find your Phone to best 3D Games on the mobile platform. The no. of downloads has shown the REAL popularity of App Store. It completed a Billion downloads in 9+ months and 1.5 billion in 1 year, and the rise is exponential in last few months.
Summary:
- 1.5 billion apps downloaded in ;
- 65,000 apps;
- An army of 100,000 iPhone developers.
Jobs indirectly noted a laundry list of rivals- Research in Motion, Nokia, Android, Microsoft and Palm primarily—all trying to replicate the App Store. Jobs said:
“With 1.5 billion apps downloaded, it is going to be very hard for others to catch up.”
The App Store is one of the primary reasons that the iPhone has been a hit. It is said that Apple is likely to deliver better-than-expected iPhone sales for its June quarter. Munster writes:
We believe upside to Mac and iPhone units could help Apple beat Street estimates for the Jun-09 quarter. Our survey of 256 iPhone buyers, along with indications from AT&T leave us confident in our iPhone est of 5 million in the June quarter vs. the Street at about 4 million.
The big picture here is that the App Store has rewritten the rules in the wireless business and Jobs knows it. Apple has first mover advantage and isn’t likely to ease up. As Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett noted Apple has been very disruptive to the wireless industry and the fun is just beginning.
The industry tug of war will revolve around devices and carriers as dumb pipes. Indeed, consumers are increasingly thinking of their smartphone as application delivery devices more than handheld for email and phone calls. The vendors that make apps easy will win. Wireless carriers see the shifts coming and some such as Verizon Wireless are already playing around with an application marketplace, according to GigaOm.
Simply put, carriers have no desire to be a dumb pipe to deliver access. Apple’s march could easily relegate carriers to dumb pipe status. It’s an interesting development that will take years to play out.
App Store is not a total success, it has some serious Flaws which have Jeorpardized Apple. Let’s see How can apple come over them.
For now, Jobs has thrown down the Bone to its competition. “Catch the App Store—if you can”.
